News & Views

May '08

Feature Article from Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car

LE MANS WINNER ROLT DIES
One of the greatest drivers ever, Tony Rolt, who won Le Mans in 1953, has died. He was 89.
Rolt was born in October 1918, and was an accomplished pre-war ERA racer who later went on to race in Formula One. Rolt served as a lieutenant in the rifle brigade in World War II. He was captured at Calais in 1940 and escaped an amazing seven times, before being sent to Colditz Castle.
He was one of the masterminds behind a plan to build an escape glider, but the aircraft was never completed. After the war, he returned to England to form part of Dixon Rolt Developments, which, among other projects, worked on four-wheel-drive development. The company was later named FF Developments and created the Jensen FF road car in 1966. This technology was later used by others.
Rolt helped design and also drove the Ferguson P99, which became the only four-wheel-drive car to win an F1 race, when driven to victory by Stirling Moss at the Oulton Park Gold Cup in 1961. Rolt also shared an ERA with Peter Walker in the first championship Grand Prix, held at Silverstone in 1950. He was the last remaining survivor of that race at the time of his death.
Jaguar signed Rolt as a works driver, and it paid off handsomely for the company as he won the 1953 Le Mans 24 Hours with Duncan Hamilton driving a C-Type Jaguar.
PAUL FRÈRE DEAD AT 91
Former race driver and respected journalist Paul Frère died on February 23, 2008, at age 91.
Frère was born in Le Havre, France, on January 30, 1917. He started his racing career on motorcycles and switched to cars in 1948. Between 1952 and 1956, he competed in 11 Formula One Grand Prix races. His best finish was second at his last event, the Belgian Grand Prix in June 1956. After 36 laps, Frère took second place in his Ferrari.
However, older sports car fans will remember Frère for his long distance racing career. In 1953, Frere won his class in the Mille Miglia, and finished 15th overall; however, he took first in his class at Le Mans 24 Hours. He had many other good finishes at Le Mans.
1960 was his best year when he won the South African Grand Prix for Cooper and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving a Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa together with Olivier Gendebien.
When he was finished racing, Frère went into another career, automotive journalism. He wrote many magazine articles and several books on Porsches, including The Porsche 911 Story. Last year, at age 90, Frère was seriously injured in an accident near the Nürburgring, but survived and was able to make public appearances afterward.
BRITISH RELIABILITY RUN
If you own a British car and are willing to help raise money for children battling disease or coping with blindness, the organizers of the 2008 America's British Reliability Run would like to hear from you. This year, participants will have their choice of three runs, in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia, all taking place on September 27 and 28. The ABRR is a true endurance run, two days of driving covering 800 challenging and entertaining miles. Participants pay their own expenses, so all pledges raised go directly to benefit charities. Since 2003, the ABRR has raised more than $130,000 for children's charities. This is the run that our own David LaChance and Mark McCourt took part in last fall--if you missed out on reading about their adventures, get your hands on the January 2008 issue of Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car. To learn more about the ABRR or to sign up, visit www.abrr.org.

This article originally appeared in the May, 2008 issue of Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car.